What is your favourite version of the Arthurian legend?

[vamperio]

I enjoyed Bernard Cornwell's take on the Arthur story.

 

[Fourth Hunter]

I know that name, Cornwell, Archers Tale? I loved that series, and i wasn't aware of the fact that he had written a version of the Arthurian legend.

 

[vamperio]

Yeah, it's call the Warlord Chronicles, a trilogy consisting of The Winter King, Enemey of God, and Excalibur. Its a pretty good read, and definitely not a fairy tale type of story.

 

[Fourth Hunter]

Thanks for the info, I think I'll read it.

 

[gigantes]

What I want to know is what is your favourite version and why?

i always liked mallory's version. it's quite dry, admittedly, but that never turned me off. my dream is that the people who made "excalibur" could have turned it into a mini-series that covered every single mallory episode. i prolly would have worn out 10 VCR's if that had happened.

other than that, this is a rare case where fantasy is more interesting than real life. the actual britannic-roman general the legends are based on is apparently a rather humdrum figure. but his story was apparently bundled into other myths (celtic IIRC) to create the larger-than-life personna that we all admire.

 

[Melisende]

"Le Morte d'Arthur" - but I also love Tennyson's "Idylls of the King"

 

[Nesacat]

The first books I'd read were Mary Stewart's trilogy and then set me of on reading others. I loved her books.

Morte de Arthur was an experience if only for the sheer size of the book. Mine is gilt edged with the black and white drawings. Just reading it was pleasure. I liked the fact that the tale was told in verse the old-fashioned way and this is the same reason I like Idylls Of The King.

Marion Zimmer Bradley's Mists of Avalon is another favourite for having told the tale from a different point of view and giving more shape and definition to many characters not previously clearly painted.

TH White's Once and Future King will always be a favourite because, as has been said, it made me care for the players in the tale as real people I could feel for.

For more recent works, it has to be Bernard Cornwell's books, which I read recently. The books are well written and give a lot of details of the times they are set in.

Am not too fond of Guinevere either. I tried to read the Guenevere Novels by Rosalind Miles. The books are well written but her story does not absorb me as much as the others. I like the other women in the Arthurian tales. Vivian, Morgan e Fay, even Nimue, Elaine, Isolt.

And one of my favourite poems is The Lady of Shallot, where the mirror cracked from side to side.

 

[Thessaly]

I study, and absolutely love, old French Arthurian literature, so I had to add my two cents worth! My favourite versions of the legends include the Chretien de Troyes romances, and the Lancelot-Grail/Vulgate cycle, which Mallory would certainly have been familiar with, as his Morte d'Arthur is influenced from this earlier cycle. I find it beautifully written (in medieval terms, which of course are a bit different to how we view narratives now) and very engaging. Le Mort le Roi Artu has such a tragic inevitability about it, I'd recommend the excellent Penguin translation to read one of the first prose treatments of Arthur's final years and death.

As far as modern retellings go, I really like Marion Zimmer Bradley's Mists of Avalon, purely because she incorporates so many of the figures and events of the medieval tradition, and tells the tales from a feminine slant. As a child, I loved reading my dad's copy of John Steinbeck's 'Acts of King Arthur and his noble knights'; a fantastic retelling of Mallory which doesn't seem to get much press.

 

[Mary Hoffman]

Sir Thomas Malory's Morte d'Arthur every time, though the French sources are very interesting too.

I agree with whoever said that the legendary king is more fascinating than the historical war leader but I would put in a plea for Rosemary Sutcliff's Sword at Sunset, which is a wonderful, heartbreaking book.

I'm not that keen on Marion Zimmer Bradley, to be honest.

I did write my own "Arthur book" for younger readers. It is called "Women of Camelot: Queens and enchantresses at the court of King Arthur", published by Frances Lincoln. Guinevere does get two chapters, but the stories warrant it.

And I too love Nimue best.(It was a good chance to include the "loathly lady" (not in Malory).

Mary

 

[svalbard]

Sword at Sunset is a marvelous book. I would also recommend the prequel, The Lantern Bearers. That was an even better book, in my opinion.

 

[Thessaly]

This could really be in a new topic since it exists independently of the Arthurian tradition, but what do you think of the legend of Tristan and Isolde?

I'm curious to see which - if any - versions of the story are popular with readers now, as I'm currently slaving away on my masters dissertation, on the old French tradition of Tristan and Iseut, and because this tale was one of the most widely transmitted of the Middle Ages, whether the same elements which made it so popular during the 12th century still appeal to us today (in my case, of course, they certainly do).

I also haven't read many modern retellings of the legend, apart from what has appeared of the legend in modern Arthurian works, so for the modern re-presentations, I'm a bit more familiar with films (namely Tristan and Isolde, L'Eternel Retour), Wagner's opera and some of the fine art inspired by the story, so any recommendations of modern novels would also be nice! I've been tempted to think about writing one myself, but doing my research for a year has put me right off delving straight into fiction on the same topic!

 

[Wiglaf]

Mallory integrated most of the romances into a single whole, but he is not a good read. Try a real King Arthur story. The History of the Kings of Britain (originally Historia Regum Britanniae) by Geoffrey of Monmouth. Better storytelling, less stupidity, and an invasion of France (Gaul). Defeating Saxons to please the Cymry and Normans. Conquering France to pleace Normans who had to submit to a practically landless French monarch when they controlled half of France.

 

[Vladd67]

I too enjoyed the Bernard Cornwell version, the Arthur story told from the point of view of an aging monk who in his youth was one of Arthurs warriors, the Arthur legend minus the fantasy elements. I seem to remember that even Merlin was just an old Druid type priest. I have never been fond of the Lancelot character, and these books he was portrayed as an arrogant strutting coward, who just happens to get the credit for other warriors bravery.

 

[nixie]

My Favourite has to be Bernard Cornwell's Warlord trilogy although I adored Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradford. I've started A.A. Attanasio's Dragon and the Unicorn today, and finding difficult to get into. The prelude is rather long.

I recently read the Rosalind Miles, Guinvere books although enjoyable I found Guinvere rather boring.

 

[Pyan]

The Once And Future King - T.H.White. - no contest.
Splendid book, and as the Cat said, they seem like real people.